


pebbles in the sea

by faerieflame



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: (kind of?), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Undeath, F/M, the power of love.....
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 11:29:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19973323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faerieflame/pseuds/faerieflame
Summary: ...And then the tower she lived on fell to the sea and she was with Kravitz now.Julia Burnsides, proud member of the Eternal Stockade.a reprise in the astral plane





	pebbles in the sea

Kravitz had to ponder for a good few minutes when the human fighter had told him to “tell Julia” he loves her. Magnus had offered no last name, but Kravitz supposes that’s because he did have Magnus on a bounty list. A last name in the form of  _ Burnsides  _ was in his book. But at first, just the name Julia seemed vague. 

“Tell Julia I love her,” Magnus had said, fire in his eyes. It was… different. There are people like Lucas—people who turn to necromancy to bring back their loved ones. Lucas has something in there, the need, the desire to have his mother back at his side. But Magnus… he doesn’t look like that. He doesn’t “want” to bring her back.

He wants her to know she’s loved.

Being the Grim Reaper is job where Kravitz often has to forget about things like sympathy and empathy. He’s heard so many sob stories, but he has a divine job to complete. But the story of Julia Burnsides is… tragic. That’s not a word Kravitz uses seriously anymore. 

She co-led a rebellion with a hammer duct taped together. She had a whisper of a goddess of fate in her heart and all the determination in her intuition. She had the love of her life at her side and was  _ happy,  _ for a brief number of months.

And then the tower she lived on fell to the sea and she was with Kravitz now. 

Julia Burnsides, proud member of the Eternal Stockade.

He looks at the sky in the Astral Plane and hums to himself. He has a few spare hours. He floats on into the Eternal Stockade and stares grimly at the souls sprawled about in its lobby. It’s the legion of ghosts. Kravitz clicks his tongue, clapping his hands and sending them all back to their cells. 

In the corner of the stockade is a cell that’s been renovated with nothing more than a spoon, a small hammer, and a screwdriver. Julia Burnsides, metalworker-turned-paladin, is hammering away at a sheet of metal. She looks up and smiles at Kravitz. “Mornin’, Grim Reaper,” she says. “I’m workin’ on some new plating for the bars. D’ya mind if I plate these in silver? The black gives the place some nice atmosphere but it’s not really my style.”

Kravitz sits down across from the bars where Julia keeps going at her anvil. “Julia,” Kravitz says. “I… well. Someone from the living world had a message for you.”

That gets Julia’s proper attention. She blinks, sets her hammer down, and looks Kravitz square in the eye. “Everyone close to me is gone now, Kravitz. Everyone I ever cared deeply about died in that explosion. No one outside of Raven’s Roost will ever know who Julia Burnsides is. Everyone except for one. Why were you  _ anywhere  _ near my husband?”

“He said he wanted me to tell you he loves you,” Kravitz says simply. “I thought it was a sweet gesture.”

“My Maggie is the sweetest gent on the face of the planet,” Julia waves a hand. “That ain’t shocking to me. Why were you near him?”

“I thought I had bounty to collect,” Kravitz shrugs. “I don’t. Not anymore.”

Julia looks at Kravitz fiercely. “Maggie’s a good man. He’s not a wizard or interested in magic. He  _ will never  _ toy in necromancy.”

“Listen, Julia,” Kravitz flounders to the side. “He’s alright. As long as he doesn’t mess with death or die, I’ll have nothing to do with him.”

“My guts disagree,” Julia shoots back. “My guts are what got me through the rebellion. Istus never lied to me. You best leave my husband alone, Kravitz. The second he arrives I  _ better  _ get to see him.”

Kravitz feels vague dissatisfaction in his gut. “Why do you do this?” He finally asks, exasperated. “You’ve never tried to escape. You just asked to stay here, locked up. Why? How does this benefit you? Don’t you want rest?”

Julia looks at Kravitz before sighing and tossing her hammer on the bed. “Magnus is going to die eventually,” she says rather simply. “He’s a human being, and a  _ fighter.  _ Not a wizard, not a warlock, none of that shit. He’s not getting anywhere close to necromancy. So, I’m waiting for him. I know that if I go with everyone else, I’ll melt into soul juice and might be reborn. I want to be happy with my husband. I won’t rest until that happens.”

Ah, Kravitz realizes.

She loves him. That’s why.

“I… see…” Kravitz trails off. Julia’s pushing her face close to the dark iron bars. She’s looking him down, observing his every movement.

Her eyes never leave Kravitz as he awkwardly uses his scythe to teleport away from Julia. She’s his feistiest prisoner, despite being in the Eternal Stockade willingly. This is an interesting development. He needs to speak to his liege.

The Raven Queen clicks her nails against her throne. “Julia Burnsides,” the name dances on her mouth. Kravitz tenses under her gaze. “She died five years ago,” the Raven Queen says idly. She is all-knowing of the residents in her realm. “She was raised as a metalworker, but then the governor of her town went mad. She turned to faith, became a paladin, and she helped rouse a rebellion among the common people. They won. She was happy again, got married… and then the mad governor Kalen bombed the Craftsman's Corridor and that side of town collapsed into the sea. Julia Burnsides died along with her father and seventy-four other people. Raven’s Roost became a ghost town after that.

“Julia Burnsides resides in the Eternal Stockade despite showing no sign of attempting an escape from the Astral Plane. She is vibrant and a paladin of Istus. She swears to never question her intuition because that is the will of Istus, goddess of fate. What do you want to do with her, Kravitz?”

Kravitz swallows. “My Liege,” he begins, bowing. “She is waiting here for her husband to pass into the Astral Plane. She… wishes to live with him, here.”

The Raven Queen’s eyes sparkle. “I see. But she doesn’t seek to escape the Astral Plane?”

“Not to my knowledge, my Liege,” Kravitz answers.

The Raven Queen smiles serenely. “It is a simple solution, then. Bring her to me.”

And he does.

When Julia steps before his Liege, she does not bow. Instead, she makes eye contact. “You were my town’s patron,” Julia says. “Raven’s Roost, the Raven Queen. Name’s Julia Burnsides.”

The Raven Queen smiles. “I know.”

“...Cool,” Julia says. “Am I in trouble for mouthing off your emissary? ‘Cause like, I know I did that but I can’t be the only one that has done that to him before.”

“You’re not wrong,” the Raven Queen smirks. “You’re not in trouble. Not yet. Kravitz had… business, with those three. You husband included. But do not worry, Julia Burnsides.  _ Your  _ patron has cleared them from my bounty.”

Recognition glows in Julia’s dead eyes. “Right. Fate and Death are forever bound,” she says, raising an eyebrow. “So you’re together?”

“ _ Together _ is a very human concept,” the Raven Queen sighs. “But yes, I suppose we are. Everyone and everything mortal is destined to die. It is second nature for us to be intimate. You are one of my lover’s emissaries,” the Raven Queen says. “You were chosen by fate to lead the charge. I understand this means that she cares for you deeply. Therefore, Julia Burnsides, I can let you reunite with your husband,” she looks down at the woman. “on one condition.”

Julia’s eyes burn and her dead heart glows. “Well, what is it?”

“Tell me a story,” the Raven Queen leans back into her throne, her nails returning to their rhythmic click. “If I like it, I’ll let you become a reaper just like Kravitz here and remain immortal forever. I’ll give you a house here so when Magnus does eventually die, he won’t melt into the soul juice and be reincarnated. If I don’t like it, you can live in that house and wait for him and live there, waiting until he dies.”

“But either way I’ll get my husband?” Julia asks.

“Either way, you’ll get your husband,” the Raven Queen smiles serenely. “You’ll just get him sooner than later if you succeed.”

Julia looks stunned. “Is this what I get for being a good prisoner? Or what?”

Kravitz shrugs. The interaction before him has been very interesting.

Slowly, hesitantly, but full of bravado all the same; Julia opens her mouth and tells the Raven Queen a story about a little boy with no experience in fighting defending a dog from a group of older kids, learned to fight to protect the defenseless, and learned what true strength meant from a bear. She tells her a story of space and death, of exploration and pain. She tells the Raven Queen a story only the dead can remember. 

She tells her the story of how her husband arrived on this world. One that not even he remembers, but one that faded into her mind the moment she died to the tune of a lonely song.

Julia gets the  _ sooner  _ side of the wager.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi my name's sol and i deal with dead characters in two ways:  
> \- prank! they are actually alive. can you believe it.  
> and   
> \- theyre dead but PRANK! theyre transcending death to live with their loved ones as a powerful, kinda unkillable entity
> 
> this doc is almost a year old and i havent listened to balance in MONTHS but. here.


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